Show D a to cla Psycho an early invasion of the human psyche I Diana Joy Jones Arts Editor As Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 classic Psycho begins the camera narrows in on a hotel bedroom window and peers inside making peeping toms out of its audience a blatant invasion of privacy from the start Throughout the first half of Psycho we are flies on the wall witness to the amoral deeds of main character Marion Crane Janet Leigh in a way that crosses the line from mere into black black- white and-white infiltration Dated it is hard not to find slight hilarity from a knife that swings never hits its target yet somehow still inflicts damage yet truly brilliant and legendary if to some overrated this film is isan isan isan an exercise in suspenseful horror Psycho pulled viewers out of their comfort zones and into the realm of paranoid thought True many film born maniacs who pushed the envelope on psychological creepiness undoubtedly found core inspiration in mamas mama's boy and deranged villain Norman Bates Anthony Perkins Yet almost more disturbing than a scrawny seemingly innocent man whose dirty little secret is that he likes to parade about in his mothers mother's frock is Cranes Crane's f 1 J Jr r 11 I f. f r f I journey to his hole in the wall motel Crane is aware that she's making all the wrong moves which start with her desire to end her intrepid affair with lover Sam Loomis John Gavin Loomis complains of his is empty pocket books and need to pay alimony to his ex wife If the saying The road to hell is paved with good intentions needed a poster child Crane would fit the bill Her intent to end her scandalous rendezvous and begin a decent relationship with Sam leads to theft In want of a financial solution in order to begin a reputable life Crane steals from her workplace On her run with the cash in tow which gets just about as much camera time as the characters the object of downfall and a searing guilty conscience we follow Crane through each moment of panic Coinciding within Cranes Crane's missteps is carefully built suspense revealed sharply in her dark wide eyes and tensely drawn features An impending musical score perplexing inner dialogue a arun arun arun run in wi with th a cop who towers over her with threatening suspension eyes shielded behind a pair of shades Tension built around ups close-ups a careful focus on significant objects and an unapologetic penetration of the human mind Hitchcock knew that it wasn't j just st a narratives narrative's revelation that mattered but the road there that heightened its value Later and and some previous horror films would also condemn and torture central characters for immoral deeds Few of them would quite capture their inner torment so effectively unless perhaps it was another entry from the early master of suspenseful cinema Gutsy within its time for many reasons including the absence of a core character after the films film's first half Leigh parading about scantily clad and the revelation of a human monster Though it shows its age today and has become victim to incessant parodies a few bad sequels and a poor remake Psycho showed how film could get up close and personal in a meditative and troubling way |